Head-up display device and display control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11295702-B2
Application number	US-201815877482-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 23, 2018
Priority date	Jan 25, 2017
Publication date	Apr 5, 2022
Grant date	Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

A head-up display device includes: a reflection member disposed in front of a driver who drives a vehicle; a projection unit configured to project light toward the reflection member and display a virtual image in a region superimposed on a superimposing display target when viewed by the driver; and an imaging unit configured to take an image of a region in front of the vehicle to generate a front image that is an image of the region in front of the vehicle. The projection unit adjusts a luminance distribution of a virtual image in accordance with a luminance distribution of a region of the superimposing display target in the front image.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A head-up display device, comprising:
a reflection member disposed in front of a driver who drives a vehicle;
a projector configured to project light toward the reflection member and display a virtual image in a region superimposed on a superimposing display target that is a detection target in front of the vehicle when viewed from the driver; and
an imaging unit configured to take an image of a region in front of the vehicle to generate a front image that is an image of the region in front of the vehicle,
a processor configured to calculate a parallax between a viewpoint position of the driver and a position of the imaging unit, wherein
a region of the superimposing display target that is the detection target in front of the vehicle is divided into a plurality of divided regions,
the projector adjusts a luminance distribution of the virtual image that is displayed in the region superimposed on the superimposing display target in accordance with a luminance distribution of a region of the superimposing display target that is the detection target in front of the vehicle in the front image, and adjusts luminance of a portion in the virtual image that corresponds to the divided region in accordance with a luminance value of the divided region, and
a size of the divided region is changed in accordance with a size of the parallax.

2. The head-up display device according to claim 1 , wherein
when a portion with low luminance is present in a region of the superimposing display target that is the detection target in front of the vehicle, the projector decreases luminance of a portion in the virtual image that corresponds to the portion with low luminance.

3. The head-up display device according to claim 2 , wherein
the superimposing display target is the detection target in front of the vehicle that is detected by a detection unit.

4. The head-up display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the superimposing display target is the detection target in front of the vehicle that is detected by a detection unit.

5. The head-up display device according to claim 4 , wherein
the detection target is a mobile object in front of the vehicle, and
the virtual image displayed by the projector is a frame surrounding the mobile object.

6. A display control method, comprising:
an acquisition step of acquiring a front image that is an image of a region in front of a vehicle; and
a projection step of projecting light toward a reflection member disposed in front of a driver who drives the vehicle, and displaying a virtual image in a region superimposed on a superimposing display target that is a detection target in front of the vehicle when viewed from the driver, wherein
a region of the superimposing display target that is the detection target in front of the vehicle is divided into a plurality of divided regions,
in the projecting step, a luminance distribution of the virtual image that is displayed in the region superimposed on the superimposing display target is adjusted in accordance with a luminance distribution of a region of the superimposing display target that is a detection target in front of the vehicle in the front image, and luminance of a portion in the virtual image that corresponds to a divided region is adjusted in accordance with a luminance value of the divided region, and
a size of the divided region is changed in accordance with a size of a parallax between a viewpoint position of the driver and a position of an imaging unit configured to take the front image.

7. The display control method according to claim 6 , wherein
in the projecting step, when a portion with low luminance is present in the front image, luminance of a portion in the virtual image that corresponds to the portion with low luminance is decreased.

8. The display control method according to claim 7 , wherein
the superimposing display target is the detection target in front of the vehicle that is detected by a detection unit.

9. The display control method according to claim 6 , wherein
the superimposing display target is the detection target in front of the vehicle that is detected by a detection unit.

Assignees

• Yazaki Corp

Inventors

• Ishibashi Atsushi
• Ogasawara Kazuyoshi
• Yoshida Akihiro

Classifications

• B60K35/234

  controlling the brightness, colour or contrast of virtual images depending on the driving conditions or on the condition of the vehicle or the driver · CPC title

• B60K35/60

  Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles (arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10) · CPC title

• B60K35/22

  Display screens · CPC title

• G09G2320/0686

  with two or more screen areas displaying information with different brightness or colours · CPC title

• G09G2360/144

  the light being ambient light · CPC title